Since 1976, The Kraken has offered live music nearly every night of the week. But the Cardiff bar's owner pulled the plug Tuesday, worried that a series of recent noise citations over loud music could cost him his liquor license.So in response to complaints from downtown Encinitas residents about public drunkenness, drunk driving, noise, sex, vomiting, and urination around Second Street, the council hired a full-time, pensioned code enforcement officer who works mostly day shifts and hasn't visibly improved the downtown situation. But a long-time local music tradition two miles away that was not a known problem for neighbors gets shut down. So that's how it works.
Beth Levy, who books bands five nights a week at the popular bar, said owner Ron Crilley made the difficult decision to indefinitely cancel live music after a city code enforcement officer showed up Tuesday with five citations for excessive noise. The citations, all written between June 26 and July 20, say that amplified music could be heard late at night outside the walls of the bar at 2531 S. Coast Highway 101.
To avoid risking the loss of his liquor license, Crilley asked Levy to cancel all future concerts.
"For 39 years we've had live music almost every night of the week," Levy said. "I've worked there 10 years. I'm a single mom with three kids and I'm worried about the future livelihood of myself and everyone that works here. Without music, we won't have the crowds in here dancing like we used to."
[...]
Michael Rennie, whose band Rio Peligroso was scheduled to perform at The Kraken tonight, said the loss of the bar as its "North County home base is significant for us."
"It's hard to imagine that the Kraken contributed significantly to any noise issues," Rennie said. "There are no residences nearby, it sits in Highway 101 and nearby businesses appeared to be closed by the time we took the stage. If anything, it seemed The Kraken would be a magnet for activity in that area after 8 p.m."
An online petition to save music at the Kraken started just two days ago already has more than 1100 signatures.
HT: The Sculpin.
UPDATE: In the face of public outrage, the city backs down:
Jul 23, 2015 — Thank You To Everyone For Joining The Cause To Keep Local Live Music At The Kraken. We Have An Update From The Owner That The City Of Encinitas Has Heard Our Cries And Will Allow Us To Continue Live Music At The Kraken Without Future Retaliation Or Citations. I Strongly Urge Everyone To Continue To Show Why Local Live Music Is An Essential Part Of The Cities Culture. Once Again, Thank You All And Your Voices Have Been Heard. We Saved The Music!!!
I assume the city doesn't have to reveal the identities of those who complained? Code enforcement is often the result of retaliation, neighbor wars, revenge or perhaps business competition in this instance. The complainants should not be afforded anonymity in this case - that would sort out the legitimacy of the issue. Due process seems impossible when dealing with Code Enforcement.
ReplyDeleteThe Council changed the rules so we now have "proactive" Code Enforcement -- i.e. Code Enforcement goes after businesses and residents even if there are no complaints.
DeleteMy guess is this new Code Enforcement officer was looking for some violations to justify the position, and live music audible immediately outside was a technical violation that was a lot easier to write up than doing anything about the downtown bar problem.
I know this a place to bash the Mayor and the Council but Gaspar responded to an email pretty quickly yesterday, while out of town, and fixed the problem with a few phone calls
DeleteCode enforcement should still be complaint based. If no one was complaining about this establishment, it wasn't bothering anyone. And to come up with five different citations on different dates seems excessive, too. They should have been reported one at a time.
DeleteCode Enforcement too often acts like a bully.
4:49,
DeleteCheers to the mayor for stopping the abuse in this specific case.
Boo to the mayor and entire council for creating another full-time pensioned day-shift code enforcement position instead of addressing the downtown late night problems.
Three complaints were made by Deputies who were aware of the Kraken's conditions-for-approval and cruised by the frontage of The Kraken and parked momentarily on 3 occasions and when the front doors opened and they heard 'music', they noted the time and date and without even getting out of the vehicle they documented violations to the Kraken's written agreement with the City and NO, no longer can Hano or Maggie enter 'anonymous' complaints, every person's violation has to have a name, time and day noted on the complaint.
DeleteHmmm..
Deletehttp://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/jul/23/blurt-krakens-still-makin-noise/
6:47,
DeleteSo who told the deputies to repeatedly harass the Kraken for chickenshit charges?
Jerome Stocks?
DeleteLisa Shaffer, soul sister to Teresa Barth. Jerome would be more likely to complain that they water their beer but as long as you are obsessed with Jerome, sure why not?
DeleteI love this. You want the city to crack down on the downtown bars but leave the Kraken alone. I guess the rules are just for some people. We get to pick and choose who we like and who we don't. Of course city workers are going to go after the ones we like because they're evil, incompetent, diabolical, etc.
DeleteI happen to like the Kraken even though I don't get there very often. It sits away from residences but that doesn't mean sound doesn't travel. In the evenings I can hear music from the 101 establishments but I don't complain to the city. All it takes is a new homeowner who can hear the music coming from the Kraken to complain. They might not be sympathetic to its iconic status.
The city has to apply the rules consistently. If you think they should be more proactive downtown, fine. That is a priority. But that doesn't mean the city shouldn't be enforcing the noise ordinance everywhere. The ordinance doesn't make any area distinctions. There isn't a downtown noise ordinance separate from the rest of the city.
I'm glad to see that the Kraken will continue with its live music but the noise rules applies to everyone.
This is ridiculous. The Kraken has been a good neighbor, and I have lived in Cardiff for 30 years. I actually have never been in the place, but I think I'll now go in support of their right to keep music alive. I never hear or see, loud, obnoxious drunks, as I do when I go downtown and see people stumbling around at the Union, the Bier Garden and a few other places. I cannot understand why they are being singled out. I just signed the petition.
ReplyDeleteYes !! Me too- I will now go to the Kraken out of spite! very Seinfeldian
DeleteYay!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete- The Sculpin
The city was way off base on this one, you can hear the music out of just about any place, but the Kraken is far enough away from houses that this isn't an issue. Bad call by whoever pulled that one off...
ReplyDeleteI think EU has the obvious conclusion. Oh, and speaking of Obvious Conclusions, that's the band that played right across 101 (from where the Kraken is) way back in 1959. Enjoy, unitl code enforcement finds a way to take it off youtube.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blVNy4tlWLI
Kraken changed ownership last year. Bought by the owner of Beachside Bar and Grill downtown.
ReplyDeleteLeave the Kraken alone, they are a great neighbor; it's those damned downtown bar owners that we hate.
Ironic.
http://www.thecoastnews.com/2014/07/11/kraken-owner-ready-for-retirement/
Here is a clue for council since they seem to need one. 40% of problems downtown are from one bar, two other bars downtown generate 30% more and the remainder is from others. To go after the Kraken in the hinterland is pretty absurd. Now try to focus, it's mainly between swamis and moonlight on 101. Hope that helps you nail the real problem.
ReplyDeleteAnother case of ready-fire-aim
ReplyDeleteSounds to me the code enforcement officer was sent by council to this particular place knowing there were no real problems. The council wanted to show us they are doing their job, but picked the wrong place.
ReplyDeleteGet with it council, or get out. Wonder Woman mayor comes to the rescue. Isn't that how she works it? YEP.
I recall people thinking that the Code Enforcement hire was a resolution to all the downtown problems. Looks like it is now a bureaucratic Frankenstein, out on the prowl looking for victims. Harassment of ordinary citizens is next - maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all!
ReplyDeleteEvidently, when you sell a bar, the entertainment license does not go with it.
ReplyDeleteThe Kraken really isn't downtown Encinitas.
ReplyDeleteJeff Murphy and Manjeet Ranu are the bosses of code enforcement. They approved the code enforcement actions.
ReplyDeleteThese guys are now the moderators of "standards" in the community? A monster has been created!
DeleteYet how well do they themselves follow standards? Below is a link to ethical standards that they are supposed to follow. Even their professional organization points out that planners are in power and can simply make shit up....which seems to happen a lot with these two.
DeleteRemember how we would not be qualified for grants with no Housing Element in place? That sure changed.
www.planning.org/ethics/ethicscode.htm
Enforce the laws equally. They should apply to all including the Kraken. The story I read in the UT said they had neighbors complain. I'd hate to live next to any bar with live music.
ReplyDeleteI think the Kraken may just be "Undocumented" why should the law apply to them?
DeleteYou must have a different UT than I do. My UT said nothing of the sort.
DeleteEU, I'm not 6:37, but here's the quote, direct from the UT article:
Delete"Murphy said that in the past couple of years, the city has received complaints from residents upset about loud music coming from The Kraken"
Ah, I see that's a second, follow-up article.
DeleteSo they supposed got more than one complaint a long time ago, but now the cops are pro-actively parking immediately in front waiting for someone to open the door so they can hear music and write a citation.
Your public servants at work.
Nah. I think they often leave the door/windows open. No lurking needed. You can hear it loud and clear at the red light in front of Cardiff Reef.
DeleteStill, I think people are too up tight. We have freight trains with insanely loud horns, wheels, and engines roaring right through the middle of town at 3 am.
Take the good with the bad and relax.
You live in paradise.
Let's keep pressure on the cops to assure that the unruly pay a price for being an a-hole. Otherwise, enjoy the music or shut your window.
See article in Reader, The Kraken basically created their own story...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/jul/23/blurt-krakens-still-makin-noise/
Ranu, Murphy, and Massie are the three monsters that our council unleashes onto citizens--or are they the ones in charge of council?
ReplyDeleteWe should hope Karen will begin her tenure by firing Jeff Murphy, Ranu, and Masih the neighborhood destroyer, to show she knows what needs to be done and restore a bit of faith to this community that she will amount to anything at all.
ReplyDeleteMasih will never be fired with Ranu his main defender at the helm so they both need to be shown the door.
Murphy, what more can one say with his housing update plan that goes against this community's wishes as exemplified by Prop A? His plan is doomed to failure as currently proposed and yet there it is. Will it take wasting another year and a half on a doomed plan before he should be shown the door?
Enough already Karen. Our hopes and wishes are in your hands and you will have little time to prove your worth come September. Get rid of a few right off the bat and you will have overwhelming support. That would make the best first impression possible of anything you could do.
There are many employees who would applaud getting rid of those three. Others below them and even in other departments suffer.
ReplyDeleteIf Karen takes action, it could actually open way to bringing in competent leadership and motivating staff to do the right thing.
You guys are living in a fantasy world on the hiring and firing process in a city government setting. While I have to agree that new blood would be a good thing, the constant drumbeat of hatred is a bit much. Let our new city manager get in there and start doing her job first....
ReplyDeleteIf anyone knows about business or the corporate world, or even politics, the new person in charge (in this case our new city manager) will not come in chopping heads off and firing people.
DeleteMost intelligent managers, presidents, CEO's come to a new place, take a look at the structure, figure out what is broken and what needs to be fixed first. This takes time, effort and months.
So, I would not expect any change in our city government come September when the new manager comes on board.
Is it just me, or is it ironic that blogger Carrie Nation is rushing to the defense of an Encinitas bar?
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if anyone would notice that...
DeleteAll bars should be held to account. I think that what is troubling to some reading this story is the selective enforcement against particular establishments. While loud music is a concern to those who live close by, and I am sympathetic, over serving and drinking while driving remain important concerns.
DeleteFred Criswell predicts:
DeleteIn 50 years and funded largely by Hilton, Restaurant Row will become Elvis Island.
Free 101 will be re-routed next to and in conjunction with the construction of double tracks crossing the lagoon,
Toll booths at both ends of existing 101 will help pay for a 30 ft parking garage / sound barrier on EI's east side.
The 300 room Hilton Inn will bridge over old 101 in two places.
1000 palm trees will line the entire beach along both sides of the highway.
KI's, The Beach House and other businesses will get to stay by an offer they cannot refuse.
Laser radar at either end will automatically report alcohol levels of designated driver's breath to a beacon that will safely pull the car over, shut it off and lock the doors until authorities arrive.
So the city cites the Kraken for live music being too loud but supports the noise from Fun on the 101...hypocrites.
ReplyDeleteSo the City backed off. That means the decision to cite was spurious. That also means that any citation can be challenged on the arbitrary criteria that is used to issue it. Code Enforcement is a joke.
ReplyDeleteThe noise from the Kraken is ruining my neighborhood. I need it stopped
ReplyDeletenow.
The grunion (can't run but still walking)
This is a bad precedent to be setting. Now, the real offenders can ignore the citations and expect the same treatment from council.
ReplyDeleteTalk about a sham of code enforcement laws. They don't mean a thing.
They would love to see Kraken close and be replaced by some douchebaggy bar like the Union, etc. This is absurd.
ReplyDelete